FYI:
>Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 10:51:30 -0500
>From: James Love <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>To: Multiple recipients of list RANDOM-BITS <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: Canadian proposal to WTO on ecommerce
>
>This proposal from Canada to the WTO regarding ecommerce would give the
>WTO a pretty broad mandate in ecommerce issues, including the issues
>relating to the "adequate protection of intellectual property works in
>the digital world," and the "identification of specific issues arising
>from domestic regulation affecting electronic commerce."
>
> Jamie
>
>
>PREPARATIONS FOR THE 1999 MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
>Electronic Commerce
>Communication from Canada
>
> The following communication, dated 23 September 1999, has been
> received
>from the Permanent Mission of Canada.
>
>_______________
>
>
>1. The following proposal is presented by Canada for consideration in
>the preparatory processfor the Seattle Ministerial meeting. The
>non-paper distributed by Canada at the Council for Trade in Services on
>19 July 1999, entitled Global Electronic Commerce: A Canadian
>Perspective, provides background material to this proposal.
>
>
> Proposal
>
>2. That, as part of the recommendations on electronic commerce to the
>Seattle Ministerial:
>
>- Members agree to extend their current practice of not imposing customs
>duties on electronic transmissions; this commitment will be reviewed at
>the next Ministerial meeting, taking into account the progress of
>negotiating groups and/or WTO bodies.
>
>- Members agree that the electronic delivery of services falls within
>the scope of the GATS, since the Agreement applies to all services
>regardless of the means by which they are delivered. Measures affecting
>services supplied by electronic means are measures affecting trade in
>services and would therefore be covered by GATS obligations.
>
>- Members agree that the supply of services by electronic means is
>permitted by specific commitments unless a Member's schedule states
>otherwise.
>
>- Members agree that all GATS provisions, whether relating to general
>obligations or specific commitments, are applicable to the supply of
>services through electronic means.
>
>- Members agree that the provisions of the TRIPS Agreement apply to
>electronic commerce, and that the effective implementation of this
>Agreement will facilitate electronic commerce.
>
>- Members agree that the following issues should be included in the work
>conducted in WTO bodies and negotiating groups in relation to electronic
>commerce:
>
> - indefinite extension of the current practice of not
> imposing customs
>duties on electronic transmissions;
>
> - clarification of the distinction between the GATS modes
> of supply in
>situations where a service is being supplied by electronic means;
>
> - classification and scheduling of new services related to
> electronic
>commerce which are not already included in the Central Product
>Classification (CPC);
>
> - classification of electronic transmissions with a physical
>equivalent;
>
> - the adequate protection of intellectual property works in
> the digital
>world;
>
> - benefits of electronic commerce for developing countries
> and ways of
>enhancing their participation;
>
> - the application of the provisions of the Annex on
>Telecommunicationsregarding access to and use of public
>telecommunications transport networks and services to the supply of all
>services included in a Member's schedule;
>
> - the application of the provisions of the GATS Reference
> Paper on
>Basic Telecommunications to basic telecoms services relevant to
>e-commerce;
>
> - identification of specific issues arising from domestic
> regulation
>affecting electronic commerce.
>
> - Members agree to establish an Experts Committee on Electronic
>Commerce, a horizontal non-negotiating group to advise and inform the
>work conducted in WTO bodies and negotiating groups in relation to
>electronic commerce.
>
>Background
>
>3. Electronic commerce is increasingly global and can reinforce the
>trend towards tradeliberalization. It requires an open, predictable,
>and transparent trading environment which operates across territorial
>borders and jurisdictions. International cooperation is essential to
>creating such a trading environment and to optimizing the social and
>economic potential of electronic commerce, both by creating the enabling
>conditions for electronic business to take place on a transnational
>basis and by removing barriers or impediments to electronic commerce.
>
>4. The Work Programme on Electronic Commerce executed over the past year
>has beensuccessful in bringing to the forefront the trade-related
>aspects of electronic commerce, and highlighting the issues which must
>be considered within each WTO body as part of ongoing work. For
>example, Members have noted that while information technology in
>general, and e-commerce in particular, could be instrumental in the
>multilateral trading system, steps should be taken to ensure that
>e-commerce does not remain beyond the reach of many developing
>countries. Narrowing the gap between developing and developed countries
>is both important and urgent and will be beneficial to all Members.
>
>5. The Work Programme has resulted in consensus on some issues, as
>described above; it is evident however that further dialogue is
>necessary to develop a fuller understanding of what is needed to both
>enable global electronic commerce and reduce impediments to trade.
>Given the varying stages of adoption of electronic commerce, its
>underlying technologies, and the development of national approaches
>among Members, the creation of a forum for the discussion of
>trade-related aspects of electronic commerce in a non-negotiating
>context will contribute to the development of truly global electronic
>commerce.
>
>6. Given the nature of electronic commerce, including the rapidly
>evolving technology associated with electronic commerce, a WTO Experts
>Committee on Electronic Commerce, consisting of representatives from all
>interested WTO Member governments, should consider ways in which it can
>draw upon expertise from outside government using processes similar to
>those of other WTO bodies.
>
>__________
>--
>James Love / Director, Consumer Project on Technology
>http://www.cptech.org / [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>P.O. Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036
>voice 202.387.8030 / fax 202.234.5176
Respectfully,
Jay Fenello,
New Media Relations
------------------------------------
http://www.fenello.com 770-392-9480
"We are creating the most significant new jurisdiction
we've known since the Louisiana purchase, yet we are
building it just outside the constitution's review."
-- Larry Lessig, Harvard Law School, on ICANN
